[1] Prior to being governor, he served as senior auditor (oidor) of the Real Audiencia of Manila, who put him in charge of military affairs.

Beyond the knowledge of Pimentel, the English were privateers and one of their ships, the Batchelor, was actually the captured Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación y Desengaño.

Pimentel explained to Martín de Ursúa, Governor-General of the Philippines, that the Marianas cannot be defended due to lack of resources and personnel.

Torralba, who arrived in Guam in 1711 for the investigation, was not convinced of this explanation, especially since there was a state of war between Spain and England at the time.

[5] In 1704, the Tournon affair[7] stripped Torralba's predecessor as senior auditor, José Antonio Pavon, of his position.

With the arrival of the new governor, Fernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda, they were reinstated to their respective positions.

Almost all members of the Audiencia were arrested, Torralba included, with the restored Villa as the only auditor remaining in service.

However, Archbishop Francisco de la Cuesta contested this move, excommunicating Torralba for his acts against the Church during his administration.

As this happened, the Church called upon the people to march to the palace, leading to the death of Bustamante on 11 October 1719.

[3][5] Despite the problems confronted by the Torralba administration, his residencia revealed that there was good progress being done in the two years he was governor.